Behold, The One {Book 1 Of The Behold Series}

~Chapter 26~ The Night Ambush

Recently On Behold, The One:
Celestine's request to wait till one month before considering marriage was accepted. Her request worried Alexander though, making him feel like a date was necessary. They do have a date, in fact, a romantic candle-light dinner in the Royal Gardens. After dinner, they have a long kiss to bid each other farewell for the night. Adorable it was.

Chapter 25's Ending:
Why am I stopping myself from marrying him when I obviously can't wait?
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   Celestine tossed and turned in her sleep. She just could not keep still. Ugh, why can't I sleep? Really, I want to but I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen... At that very moment, she felt something sharp stab through her shoulder. Without opening her eyes, she summoned her sword and randomly stabbed the air before her. She then opened her eyes.

   In the enemy's hand was a bloodied dagger and the enemy was none other than... Adrian? How did HE get in here? Her sword was inches from his chest, much to his shock. Instantly, Celestine screamed at the top of her lungs. How did HE get out of prison? Just how? Maybe Alexander was already injured as well. No, that couldn't happen. Impossible.

   Adrian put his dagger away and replaced it with his axe, just like before. Celestine gripped her sword tightly, bracing herself for the attack. How did he even get his axe back?! She switched the light on and started parrying Adrian's attacks.

   "What are you doing here?!" She screamed, using the speed of her sword to fling Adrian to the door.

   "I'm here, to get my revenge!" He declared.

   Hearing footsteps, Celestine used her stardust to take his axe away before chaining  him to the nearby wall so that he could not escape. At thay very moment, the guards barged in.

   "What's wrong, my lady?" One of he guards asked before looking at the struggling Adrian in shock.

   "Adrian, get him out of here and into the dungeons!" She shrieked, using a rock to hit his head and knock him unconscious.

   Celestine then released his limp body from the chains and let the guards take him away. Ugh, that was why I felt so scared... Maybe I should check on Alexander. She left Adrian's axe in her safe and put on her night slippers as she went into the corridor. She unsummoned her sword, keeping it away as she knocked on Alexander's door.

   Reluctantly, he opened it.

   "Who are you and why are you waking me in the middle of the night?" Alexander asked groggily as he opened his eyes.

   Upon seeing Celestine, he jumped and let her in immediately. He switched his room light on and gasped in shock at the sight of blood.

   "C-Celestine, what happened to you?" He asked worryingly as he seated her on his bed.

   She was hesistant to tell him but told him what had happened that night anyway. She clunched her wound as she did so.

   "Celestine, let's get you to the Medic Wing. Oceana can attend to you since she's on night shift tonight." Alexander suggested as he held Celestine's hand, pulling her up.

   Alexander put on his slippers and they walked out into the corridor. They made their way to the Medic Wing, that did not take very long. When Alexander opened the door, they saw Oceana at it.

   "Oh gods, your majesty!" Oceana exclaimed in shock as she bowed.

   "Oceana, Celestine has got a stab wound by a dagger on her shoulder. We need medical treatment immediately. Please see to it that she is treated." Alexander ordered sternly.

   Oceana nodded, bringing them into the one of the Medical Treatment Rooms. She used some disinfection liquid to prevent any infections and applied some medication on the wound. After, she used a bandage and wrapped it around Celestine's shoulder several times.

   "Thank you, Oceana. I never thought we'd meet like this." Celestine admitted, smiling sweetly as she gave Oceana a warm hug.

   "Your welcome Celestine. I had a feeling that I'll see you around the castle some time soon." Oceana teased as she brought Celestine back to Alexander.

   "Your Majesty, I have treated Lady Celestine's wounds and she is free to go now. Perhaps you might want to get changed before heading for breakfast?" Oceana suggested.

   Breakfast? What time is it now? Alexander pondered as he checked his watch. Oh, it is already 7 in the morning. Breakfast has already begun.

   "Sure. Thank you Oceana."

   With that, the duo returned to their rooms. On their way, Celestine kissed Alexander mildly on his cheek before running into her room, embarassed.

   Will he think of proposing? And why am I thinking of that now? Wait a minute, is that why I'm delaying my answer? Or is it not? Wow, I'm so messed up. Celestine wondered as she dressed into a simple dress. It was a spagetti stripped dress down to her knees with with a beautiful lace trim to it. It tightened around her waist, making it look more presentable and elegant. It was the colour of blue, sky blue. It was the perfect dress to wear when having breakfast with the King. Not too formal, not too casual either.

   She wore her pair of comfortable flats before taking a small sling bag and walking out the door to the Dining Hall.

   Celestine entered the Dining Hall, surprised to see that King Robert and Queen Miranda had stood up upon sensing her presence.

   "Good Morning, my future daughter-in-law." King Robert acknowledged.

   The queen nudged him on the shoulder as she gestured Celestine to join them. She sat beside Alexander, thanking them for the invitation. She saw that Alexander was observing her shoulder concernly. He's still worried about my wound... Celestine realised, surprised.

   "Dear Celestine, what happened to your shoulder?" Queen Miranda asked.

   Celestine was about to reply but she hesitated for a moment. Finally, she found the words in her mouth to explain what had happened the night before.

   "He did what?!" Queen Miranda and King Robert shrieked in unison.

   The queen simply stood there, shocked. King Robert on the other hand, had his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles showed white.

   "How dare he?! That's it. I am setting him for Life Imprisonment. Even if he dies, I don't care! He can stop dreaming about being the king, he can stop dreaming about hurting my heir and her soon-to-be wife!"

   After discussing a while with Queen Miranda, he added a sentence which shocked Celestine greatly.

   "If you can do the honors, Celestine, I'd like you to kill him."

   The king's words shocked Celestine. He wants me to kill his older son?!

   "Well, we just wanted you to feel assured. Since he did try to kill you in his sleep, I thought if you killed him, you would have the piece of mind." Queen Miranda explained, relieving Celestine and Alexander.

   Alright, I need to sharpen my sword then.

   "He will be in the arena. And you will have to kill him in the arena tomorrow."

   The arena. I have a chance of getting injured if that is the case. He is skilled, I had better train.

   "Of course, my king. Please pardon me but I need to train." Celestine excused herself politely as she made her way to the training room.

   She fought with a countless number of holograms, slicing, parrying, thrusting, stabbing, slashing, jabbing and jamming, practicing all her techniques. She was practicing so hard that she had not realised that she had pushed herself still 5pm in the evening. Her wound had recovered, much to her relief. Celestine was drenched in sweat due to her vigourous training. Deciding that she had enough training, she retreated to her room to sharpen her sword.

   If this is what it takes to protect Alexander, I'll do it gladly.